CGIAR Gender

GENNOVATE

GENNOVATE is a cross-CRP, global comparative research initiative which addresses the question of how gender norms and agency influence men, women, and youth to adopt innovation in agriculture and natural resource management (NRM).

Carried out across 137 rural communities in 26 countries, this qualitative comparative study aims to provide authoritative “bottom-up” research to advance gender-transformative approaches and catalyze change in international agricultural and NRM research for development.

In discussion groups and individual interviews, more than 7,500 rural study participants of different socio-economic backgrounds and age groups reflect on and compare local women’s and men’s expected roles and behaviors — or gender norms — and how these social rules affect their ability to access, adopt, adapt, and benefit from innovations in agricultural and natural resource management.

Participants of the study reflect on questions such as:

What are the most important new agricultural practices and technologies for the men of the village? And for the women?

What qualities make a woman a good farmer? And a man a good farmer?

Do young people in this village follow local customs of women doing certain agricultural activities and men others? Why or why not?

Are there differences between a woman who is innovative and a man who is innovative?

GENNOVATE’s qualitative comparative methodology and large sample mark a first in the CGIAR, as well as the collaboration of principal investigators (PIs) from 11 Phase I CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) worldwide (see Research management section).

The initiative’s broad-based and inclusive research process strives to give rural women and men a voice by:

News

To mark International Women’s Day 2018, this post announces the official release of the GENNOVATE Methodology. The Methodology stimulates dialogue and allows women and men to critically reflect on the gender norms that shape their lives, how these may be changing, and their desirability.

Gender awareness and gender-sensitive approaches are slowly spreading into agricultural research, extension, and policy in Ethiopia. An initiative led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is helping to drive evidence-based approaches to foster gender equality and include it in mainstream agricultural research.

Agricultural machinery saves both time and labor for small-scale farmers and is increasingly available in rural areas. However, women’s needs and interests are often not fully considered when these machines are developed, introduced and adopted by communities.

Is the GENNOVATE overall picture of growing power and freedom and declining poverty in the case study villages not telling the whole truth? This report is based on 137 GENNOVATE village-level case studies and the data show strong differences in how men and women – and their communities – experience and benefit from innovation processes.

This study examined both community and individual men and women’s experiences with agricultural innovations and practices and how these interactions support or hinder the achievement of agricultural innovations across various contexts. By providing robust empirical evidence on the relationship between gender norms, agency and agricultural innovation, the study revealed that socio-cultural structures and household dynamics chiefly shapes how individuals negotiate…

This study was conducted to gain a more nuanced understanding of how agricultural innovations affect different socio-economic groups. In particular, the researchers were interested in analyzing changes that might have occurred due to barley innovations, both new varieties and new marketing and lending mechanisms.

Incorporating gender in agricultural research is a key strategy for successful interventions. This was demonstrated at a workshop of the GENNOVATE methodology. A qualitative research methodology was specifically developed and brought to scale in the study to explore hidden norms within societies, particularly in the field of gender and agriculture. It explores differences in women’s and men’s capacities to access,…